Living Forever with Yourself
by Dark'nLightAngel
Summary: A slight variation of the ending of At World's End. Jack-centric. There might be a bit of OOC-ness. Rated for some mentioned violence or somesuch. Oneshot! R&R!


I have no idea why I suddenly wrote this....I was watching At Worlds End. Or, the end of it, and suddenly I wanted to type a Jack-thought-centric version...Keep in mind this was made and edited between two and five in the morning. I tend not to think correctly, so I might come back to this and revise it or some-such...This is my first PotC fic. Wow.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the movie, or the characters....Or the actors...No matter how much I wanna.

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The heart was his! Jack could hear Will's struggle with Jones, the sickening question that the bloody demon always asks. He must act now, or William's life would be forfeit. Grabbing the heart, Jack stood up.

"Do you?" He smirked as Jones turned to look at him, feeling the relief flooding off his best mate and his newly made wife. Holding up the heart, and his broken sword, Jack shrugged leisurely, "Heavy tonic, holding life and death in the palm of one's hand."

Jones disbelieving look was wonderful to watch, twisting into rage quickly enough, "You're a cruel man, Jack Sparrow!"

"Cruel is a matter of perspective." The manipulative pirate replied, all hints of his normal playful, non-serious self gone. He might not be all there, but Jack didn't like to think himself cruel. Why, he was simply furthering his own ends, and if he got rid of Jones on the way, who was to blame him?

"Is it?" Jones asked, lifting his sword and turning to drive the weapon into William's heart. Elizabeth's distressed cry barely met Jack's ears as his eyes widened, watching as the captain of the Flying Dutchman twisted the blade in the young man's chest.

Jack felt his own heart stop, in that small time frame. William! No, no! That wasn't how it was supposed to happen! Jack was supposed to pull Jones' attention away from the whelp and his wifey so that they could get off the ship! He and Jones were supposed to banter, and then he was to stab the heart and be free forever!

But that slimy git had gone and stabbed William, his betrayer, tool, his best mate, the stupid...Young whelp who still had an entire life ahead of him! Jack could feel the distress coming off Elizabeth, and himself, could hear William's pained breaths, could sense Jones' sick satisfaction at ruining the young love, destroying the couple so early on...

The heart was still beating in his hand. Why hadn't he stabbed it earlier?! Jack thought with distress as Jones turned to him and laughed, Elizabeth scrambling to reach her love's side. "Will. Will, stay with me! You're alright!" Her words were pointless. Lies. He wasn't alright, Jack knew, the sword left in his heart that Elizabeth was trying so hard to ignore was proof of that.

His mind raced. He had to save Will, it was only right! But what about Jack? He needed to stab the heart himself, it was his greatest desire! Become immortal! At what cost, though? One day on land, ten years at sea? There were other ways to immortality...

Bootstrap was attacking Jones now, as Jack fought with himself, willing himself to stab the heart. He was a bloody pirate, for god's sake! It shouldn't be this hard to complete his quest to live forever! _'It's not about living forever, Jacky. It's about living with one's self forever that's the hard part.'_ His father had said.

Would Jack really be able to live forever knowing that he had let his best mate die, just so he could have immortality?

"Will, Will, look at me!" Elizabeth was pleading, holding the young smith's face close to her own, trying to will him into staying alive, "Look at me!"

No, Jack decided as he darted over to the two, he couldn't live with that. William had betrayed him, yes, but hadn't he been double, triple, and quadruple crossing the boy as well the entire time? There were other ways for him to accomplish his ends, he had years more to look if he was lucky. William didn't have any more than a few more moments of life. At the very least, he had longer than the whelp did.

"William..." Jack muttered, stooping next to the couple. He knew that the whelp probably couldn't hear him very well, but it was imperative that he had something to focus on. Placing the heart on the deck, he took hold of the boy's hand and did his best to place the handle of the broken sword into his. To the pirate's dismay, there was no grip behind the hold and the blade almost fell into the heart. Luckily, Jack caught it to try again, "Come on, whelp. Help us out, ey? Just hold it and I'll do the rest..."

In response, Will's hand flexed weakly and then clenched, giving just enough pressure that he could hold the handle. Jack nodded and, just as Jones went in to finish off Bootstrap, he guided the boy to bring the broken, jagged edge into the heart on the floor besides them.

Jones stopped dead, and turned to look at them disbelievingly as Jack released his light hold on William, the boy's hand going limp in turn and falling to the ground. Jack's gaze turned with Elizabeth's to look at the tentacled face, and watch as Jones muttered something to the sky and fell over to join his love in the dark, stormy waters below. There seemed to be a moment's pause, as Barbossa's voice rang out before the sound of a cannon being fired. The two ships broke apart, the Black Pearl steering safely out of danger.

Jack turned back to William and Elizabeth, as the whelp seemed to take his last breath. Jack knew better. Elizabeth's cries rang out over the soft, growing chants of the Flying Dutchman's crew, as Bootstrap approached with his dagger.

"Part of the ship, part of the crew. Part of the ship, part of the crew." They would cut out Will's heart, to replace the one he had stabbed. The Dutchman had to have a captain, needed a heart.

He couldn't let Elizabeth see this, they couldn't stay. The ship was going down, and they would drown if they didn't leave now. Jack stood grimly, rushing to grab Elizabeth, pulling her back and away from her lover despite her protests. They had to leave, she had to understand that she couldn't stay with him Dragging her over to the edge of the ship, he left her there and made quick work of creating their ticket off of the vessel. All he needed now was a gun...There! He ran to grab it and made his way back to Elizabeth, catching a brief glance of William and the crew. The chest had been retrieved, there wasn't anymore time, he couldn't let her see this.

"Hold on!" Jack's commanded a mere second before shooting the ropes that tied down his make-shift parachute, thanking whatever gods were out there that the storm winds were there to lift them and the sails into the air.

They watched the Dutchman crash into the water's depths as the storm finally died out completely. Jack felt her face press into his chest as he steered them as close to the Black Pearl as he could, grateful when Barbossa brought the ship around to meet them. He didn't even notice the bloody monkey until they were helped aboard. But, at least he'd have something to shoot still, ey?

It hardly lightened his mood, as Gibbs' ramblings cut through to his brain. "....think it's time that we embraced that oldest and noblest of pirates traditions!"

Jack's thoughts reeled towards William. They couldn't leave, not yet, there was still a job to do. "Never actually been one for tradition.." He muttered, moving over to measure the distance between them and Beckett before shooting off orders that he was sure must have made him look even more crazy than usual.

"Belay that or we'll be a sittin' duck." Barbossa's voice called out, the two captain's turning to glare at each other.

"Belay that, belay that!" They had to wait, damn it! Gibbs starts at protesting only served to agitate him further, causing him to yell childishly, "Belay! ...Belay! No, no! ...Shut it!" Couldn't they see he was expecting company? Annoyed, he stuantered away before they could start again, to the head of the ship so he could wait in peace.

Barbossa didn't speak again, rather he and Gibbs had followed him up, but had thankfully they decided to just go along with it. Jack simply stared out to the sea, expectantly. William would not let him down, he knew, the whelp would be here soon enough and, as always, would help him to tie up the loose ends. Afterall, he was great leverage.

Despite everything, he was sure that William would follow his lead just as he always did, just as Elizabeth tended to do without realizing it. Despite her being Pirate King, and him being captain of the Flying Dutchman now, he was sure both would follow him. If only for this one final act, _Captain_ Jack Sparrow would call the shots.

_Come on..._.Jack moved back down to the deck, wanting to get closer to the water. Where was he? His patience was starting to run thin, as Beckett's ship started towards them finally. No, he told himself firmly, William will come through. _Just a little longer....There!_

The Flying Dutchman burst from the water, debris and all sorts of things falling off the vessel and, Jack thought, it's crew no doubt. He could see William at the head, looking a right bit more lively than the last time Jack laid eyes on him. Of course that's to be expected, he _was_ dying the last time.

Jack waited until he heard Will's orders to his crew before he grinned and called out commands of his own, Hector's voice following soon after. Barbossa and William easily brought the ships about to flank on either side of their enemy as the crew readied the cannons.

_Steady..._Jack told to himself as they approached, smirking devilishly in anticipation. _Just a second longer..._ "Captain!" He turned his head away from the wonderful sight to briefly look at Gibbs,

"....Fire." The single word was echoed by Gibbs, and Jack watched as William yelled it out in response, Barbossa and Elizabeth's voices joining them, cannons finally bursting to life soon after. Really, how many times did the word have to be screamed before anyone acted on it? Jack watched as the ship before him was destroyed, blasted to bits along with Beckett. He could practically taste the ironic words that he imagined himself saying mockingly to the other man. _It's just good business._

He smiled scornfully as cheers erupted on all the pirate ships around, hats flying into the air. Taking off his hat, he offered it to Gibbs to throw, watching as it sailed into the mass of hats below them before sending the other to retrieve it. After all, he couldn't have it getting lost now, could he? He'd already lost it once, and Jack was rather fond of his hat.

Shortly after, a boat was set up for Elizabeth to head ashore. Will only had till sunset to be with her, a steep price to still be alive, Jack knew. He sourly wondered if he had made the right choice. Was the price _too_ steep? Surely, one day ashore every ten years wasn't worth it...But, he could practically hear the whelp telling him it was what they did with that day that counted. One day could make their lives worth something, if they were lucky.

"Jack..." Elizabeth....Mrs. Turner, he told himself with a mixture of regret and pride, "It would never have worked out between us." Now, where had he heard that one before?

He smiled in amusement, "Keep telling yourself that, darlin'." There was a pause, and she smiled before holding her hands out and starting forward as if to hug him. Jack held his hands up to stop her, remembering all too well the last time he'd fallen for her affections. "Once was quite enough..." He stated softly as she stepped back.

"...Thank you."

As she climbed into the small boat and started rowing towards land, Jack felt a small pang go through him, and turned to call, "Give William my regards! That I'm sorry and he's welcome alike, will you?" She paused, looking up at him in confusion and surprise, "He'll understand." Jack added hurriedly with a small smile.

She stared at him for a moment before nodding, "I will! Goodbye, Captain Jack Sparrow!" There was a brief moment where he thought she was mocking him, but he shrugged it off and turned back to the crew.

"Well, hows about we head to Tortuga for some celebrating! Rum and wenches all around, ey?" He stated, and the crew erupted in agreement and cheer before heading to set sail.

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Once Barbossa was consumed in steering the ship, Jack slipped quietly over to where the map was, opening it up. A steep price, his best mate had payed, to live. Jack had given up his own chance at immortality, yes, but now that he looked at it, the price wasn't worth it. He was much to selfish to carry out that duty, and he wasn't one much for a face of tentacles.

Besides, he thought, playing with the map idly while pulling out a dagger he'd retrieved at some point during the battle with Jones. There was more than one way to live forever. Also, this way he would be able to live with himself forever. And if that wasn't the case, at least he could always count on William to put up with him.

After all, forever was a long time to live.

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...Yeah. There we go. Slight variations, but ey. -shrug- That's what makes writing things like this fun...Anyways, bedtime. Review pleaseeee! -heart- -darts off-


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